The Raid
by Sir Raphael
Summary: Oneshot. Amidst growing defeatism, the Coalition Starfleet hires Team Solaris to go to the rescue of beleaguered troops on Devali, a planet in the Frontier Ring. But an unexpected outcome of the battle leaves everyone surprised.


**The Raid**

* * *

_Author's Note_: Hey all...just writing this to let you know that no, I'm not dead. But after a half year of denial, high school caught up with me, and it did so with a vengeance. But rest assured, with summer closing in fast and an end to schoolwork in sight, I'll be able to start writing again!

Characters and technology used are from Red Skies. When you get to the part about the PPS (stands for Plasma Penetration Shield), think of (if you've seen it), Kirby's Dragoon from Super Smash Bros. Brawl (the three-part plane thing, I've had that idea for awhile). This story takes place at the end of Red Skies, actually- and thus it's a lead in to the next story. But until Black Skies- and Red Skies- are finished, I'll leave it to you to speculate what exactly is going on! Mild spoilers, small crossover.

Here's hoping for more updates!

* * *

**Oneshot...The Raid**

* * *

"General Selena needs us to carry out a surgical strike," began a silver fox, "here." He punctuated the end of his sentence by tapping a location on the tactical map before him- the point he tapped began to flash a bright red. "She's asked for support of the ground troops there."

"Air cover?" inquired another fur, this one a cross between an otter and- surprisingly enough- a falcon. Her eyes surveyed the display keenly.

"None. The enemy have air superiority," replied another fox, clearly the sibling of the other. She turned to her brother. "Right, Dan?"

"Right," he affirmed. "According to the transmissions from the field commander, they're being overrun by infantry and aerial bombardment is ripping them apart. It's our job to take some of the heat off of them."

"Team Lunaris?" asked another pilot, a bulldog by the name of Gannet. "Will they be joining us?"

"Aurora's on another mission, so she won't be around any time soon." That was Vanessa, the other silver fox. "Which makes it harder for us. There're only seven of us, and Stella went with Aurora to assist with the rescue operation."

"Got it." That was Gannet, as he leaned back in his seat. "What's our game plan?"

"Simple. Raymond, you and Tally are on point. I want you two to assess their strength first hand. Vanessa and I will make a flanking attack from the left side, and we'll be right behind you. Gannet, you're with Ally- your job is to escort the troops on the ground. Maybury, you're to stay here. Get ROB's help- I'm gonna need you to take the Solaris planetside to provide the army some firepower. Got it?" There was the nod of many heads, most furred, one amphibian. "Then, let's move!"

Maybury Hare was already setting himself into the command chair as the others rushed from the bridge, flicking a control to another setting. After a brief flicker of the brilliant white panels situated around the bridge, red indicator lamps flared on and the viewpanes were suddenly swarming with statistics and data.

Maybury's eyes flew over them to find the gauge he needed to see- he relaxed when his vision alighted upon it. The shield meter was rising rapidly to full, and he initiated the power transfer into the forward and ventral shield grids immediately. Lights dimmed as the plasma conduits running through every deck shifted in alignment and polarity, shunting the majority of the dreadnought's energy into the shield emitters on the ship's underbelly and bow.

The dreadnought came out of warp moments later, the collapsing warp stream behind it fading within seconds. The ship began to shudder as it slipped into orbit around a large planet, before beginning the precise calculations needed to maneuver the ship into a stable descent vector.

* * *

While Maybury Hare made the vector analysis, Daniel McCloud and his team came rushing into the hangar bay, each moving for their own fighter. The launch doors slid open as soon as everyone was secure, the containment forcefield snapping into place even as the duraluminum portals pulled apart. As the Solaris began to shake, shields striking the upper molecules of planetary atmosphere, Daniel's fighter roared to life, and in a burst of green-tinged energy and trinary streams of azure ions, rocketed out of the launch bay, followed closely by five others.

As soon as his wingtips cleared the confines of the hangar, Daniel threw wide the throttle, as well as a secondary control in front of him. Immediately, the graphical representations of his fighter began to shift. The wings rotated out from where they had been, wingtips pointing forwards and lined flush against the nacelles, to a horizontal position. From above, his vessel looked almost like some type of predatory insects, wings forward in an aggressive posture.

Then, with the hum of mechanical parts and gentle rush of power through the plasma conduits, powerful motors whirled into action, pulling the wings outwards. The ship's figure became increasingly awkward, moving from the sleek, predatory interceptor to an awkward, ungainly mass of steel projections.

There was a thud that rolled through the fighter. All at once, the wings snapped into one of three optimal positions, revealing the craft to be not some reject of a wartime factory, but a Mark V Arwing in all of its deadly grace.

* * *

Ally Lombardi ruffled her feathers and twitched her rudder slightly, settling in for the long haul. The technician surveyed the mass of instruments before her, surveying each intently. She peered at the shield gauge, and was about to make several modifications when there was a small, computerized chirp.

"Hello, Aptcom," she said, not taking her eyes off the dashboard before her. "And how are you doing today?" She was addressing her Arwing's APTCOM system, which had just initialized itself. Two generations after the venerable ROB 64 combat assistance robot had been developed, APTCOM, the Advanced Personality Tactical Computer, had been personally coded by the late Beltino Toad, shortly before his death on the Helios Laser. He had introduced it to both the Star Fox and Star Wolf teams of the time, and they had been fitted to each of the original twenty Mark V Arwings. Personable, brilliant, and adaptive, Aptcom proved successful during the Battle of Solar, taking over the Arwings of Slippy Toad, Century Shorehm, and Leon Powalski after they had died of wounds incurred during the vicious dogfight.

In any case, however, its vocal interface had an uncanny knack for bringing one back to the situation at hand. Aptcom's voice cut through her thoughts- "Hello, Ally. Tactical scans indicate you are preparing for planetary reentry."

"You're right, Aptcom. And you're as blunt as always." Ally had to give a grin as she said this- her APTCOM had not been fully broken in yet, having only been reactivated aboard the team's Arwings several months prior, when a reclusive friend of Beltino's had informed them of its purpose. "Prepare shields for reentry."

"Task complete," announced Aptcom. "Are there any other requirements custom to the mission before reentry?"

"Nothing I can't handle." replied Ally. "But you're in charge of the aft particle cannons, the mine launcher, the rear grapplers- all the stern weapons. I'm gonna count on you to take out anyone behind me _and_ let me know. Remember last time?"

"Yes," came the response, almost sulky in tone. "Very well."

"Everyone ready?" That was Daniel, speaking over the Solaris channel. "Are your APTCOMs online? If so, then follow me!" At the head of the formation, the lead Arwing banked sharply and fell away into the atmosphere, the others falling into line behind him.

As the shield strength gauges began to drop and his Aptcom reinforced the relevant shield grids, Daniel reached out, making a weak link with his sister. Telepathically, he asked her if all was right.

All was right. With that question out of the way, Daniel took a deep breath, and steadied his paws on the flight controls in front of him. With air superiority belonging to the Evenar, Lylat's foe for the last decade, they'd have to come out of reentry shooting.

When he noticed the telltale streaks of green, barely visible through the roaring, rushing flames enveloping his cockpit, he realized he'd probably have to start shooting sooner.

* * *

It was Tally Shorehm, daughter of the deceased Century Shorehm, who first posed the question to computer. Even as the bright flame continued to almost completely obscure her view, she was squinting at the source of the maddening bolts of viridian plasma hurling up at them.

"Aptcom, would it be possible to get a target lock on those guns?"

"Launching heavy ordinance would be unwise under reentry conditions," cautioned APTCOM. "However, I can establish a rough targeting lock for forward weaponry with the exception of all fixed cannons."

"So, what are my options?"

"Particle cannons, the bolt laser, the polaric cannon, the dynamic surge, and to a limited effect, maelstrom lasers."

"Prime the weapons you mentioned and open fire!"

"That exceeds power production capabilities of this vessel under current conditions." Tally frowned at this- she knew full well that the Mark V possessed no fewer than three power cores on board, the main, antimatter driven system, and two auxiliary cores, one a plasma core, the other a fission fusion core.

"Are the secondary and auxiliary power cores online?"

"Negative."

"Bring them online." There was a momentary lull in the dialogue, before APTCOM returned from its duty.

"Power production at full capacity. However, continuous firing of all weapons will result in a drain of reserve power. This is not recommended. Reserve power is required for emergency shield transmission."

"I know, I know," she remarked, voice dry. "Does this include power the dynamic surge can sap?"

"Affirmative. Statistical probabilities indicate that the dynamic surge will not be able to accurately draw power from targets. In addition, it could overload the forward power coupling."

"What can I fire safely, then?"

"The forward three particle cannons and the bolt lasers together, or the polaric cannon and both maelstrom lasers."

"Begin with the latter option. If you detect impacts, switch to the former option and open fire!"

* * *

Despite the continuing blackout imposed on communications through the reentry phase, everyone noticed when a hail of yellow bolts began raining down from behind, ahead, right, or left, depending on where they flew. It wasn't long before everyone else joined in on the attack.

* * *

Captain Mayflower of the Coalition 201st could not help but smile as the golden bolts indicative of maelstrom fire began striking down from above like the strikes of lightning in a maximum force hurricane. Great plumes of flame and debris arose from the Evenar artillery emplacements, having been temporarily diverted to deal with this new and all too dangerous threat swooping down from above.

The trenches and advance headquarters of the Coalition forces ceased shaking for the first time in what felt like years as enemy fighters and bombers abruptly peeled off. No more did the sickening wall of green energy blanket the battered expeditionary force, to the great relief of all.

It was not long before all six Arwings burst from the cloud cover, the ground becoming visible to their pilots as the fire that had been licking around their hull-tight shielding faded away into acrid smoke. For a split second, the azure beams from the combined eighteen particle cannons ceased lashing out at the ground, and the last volley of bolt laser fire, one from each ship, struck the ground. Great pillars of roaring flame erupted from their impact sites.

For an instant, there was silence. And then, in the words of Raymond Toad, some time later, "All hell broke loose."

Team Solaris regrouped, then broke smoothly into pairs as their battle plan had dictated. There was none of the awe and terror invoked by Team Star Fox and Star Wolf's entrances, long gone into the past- only wild gunfire that lanced out in all directions.

Two rough formations appeared in the sky- one of four fighters, two on point, two flying to the left, and the other, a pair of Arwings circling above the soldiers. Just as their ion trails uncrossed and faded into oblivion, the milling horde of Evenar vessels split into two wings, one to a squadron.

Unfortunately for the Evenar, despite several years of experience, they continued to underestimate the Arwing V. Perhaps their pilots were older, hardened war veterans, and their ships far superior to the Coalition's motley force, but the Arwing V was from Lylat's last great age- and certainly, the most sophisticated fighter in any arsenal.

There were subdued gasps from the onlookers on the ground as, in concert, the engines of all six Arwings went out. The azure streams of plasma ions ceased to flow, and for a moment, the fighters in the sky dipped, noses dropping down to meet the horizon as the ships began an unpowered descent. Three bands of uncharged plasma leaked from the engines of each Arwing.

In a moment, however, there was a blast of smoke, and with a thunderous, rebrevating roar that swept over the battlefield. The sleek bands of luminescent ions from before were replaced now with a crackling column of crimson heat that extended behind each Arwing almost ten yards, before fading to the optimal burn length of twenty feet. Whips of electricity released by the burning plasma snapped out from the body of the fire, obscuring the view of anything behind.

Boosters engaged on four of the Arwings- Daniel's, Vanessa's, Tally's, and Raymond's. Afterburners mounted on the nacelles ignited the plasma wake from the boosters, adding another set of twin flames to the inferno trailing the formation.

The first formation swept up into the sky, leaving their dogged pursuers far behind. Just as the smoke blew away, the scream of air rushing past wings was heard loudly and clearly, and the four fighters returned.

* * *

Raymond Toad had the first squadron in his sights, and he threw forth a murderous salvo of three nova bombs directly into the formation's center. The sphere of destructive energy swept outwards into a globe of fiery chaos, columns of energy blasting through the signature azure light as it expanded further in spikes of light.

Of the twenty fighters, only thirteen emerged, their flickering shields on the border of collapse. As Raymond's Arwing blasted through the broken wing, his forward lasers tore apart two Evenars who inadvertently strayed into his path, while his forward particle cannons lashed out to take care of another two. As he left the remaining nine in his wake, his Aptcom took a scan, and piercing the smoke, the aft two particle cannons claimed another victim. Before even beginning his turn, the computer had fired a volley of three mines into the still-obscured air.

When the debris stopped raining down, only three Evenar remained, quickly snapped up by Tally Shorehm, banking in from one side and below to lance the first with a well-placed bolt laser and the second with an equally accurate spray of pearl lasers.

The six odd pursuers behind her dropped away in haste as the Arwing's aft weaponry perforated air, shield, and hull with vicious streams of particle energy and explosive force.

This initial, brutal assault left the interception force dazed- so much so that they didn't notice both of their attackers activating boosters and afterburners, leaping clear of the area in moments.

The reason why became all too apparent. Fat bolts of violet energy crashed down onto their milling flanks as the helix lasers of Daniel and Vanessa tore out from their launchers. Still a good distance from their targets, crystals rotated inside the forward laser cannons as the hyper gattling gun engaged in their nose cones, spraying a round of weaker, yet still formidable azure bolts into the fray. Maelstrom lasers replaced the violet lances of energy with their customary spread of weaker golden strikes.

"Ten seconds to interception," warned Vanessa's APTCOM. She nodded in acknowledgement. _Dan, now!_

Not one, two, or even five bombs winged their way from the forward launchers- the entire primary payload of both Arwings, totaling twenty nova bombs, flashed out and annihilated the remains of the wing. Only three lucky survivors were able to straggle from the cloud of debris, and armor piercing missiles fired by Tally and Raymond claimed two in a brilliant flash of smoke, light, and shrapnel.

The remaining Evenar wisely coaxed his crippled fighter into a high-speed descent, rushing towards the ground and staying low, heading back towards base. No Arwing took pursuit.

* * *

The battle was almost entirely different above the embattled Coalition soldiers. Destroying a fighter outright would risk sending shrapnel and debris raining down on the ground forces, so Gannet and Ally improvised- the five grapplers on both ships were seeing great use as greatly surprised Evenar found themselves suddenly being hauled away from the battle before release destroyed their attitude controls, leaving the fighters to slam into each other, momentum hurling their remains away to the winds.

"Ah, ah!" murmured Gannet, his APTCOM snagging a particularly quick fighter with the ventral tractor beam. "Not this time, you don't!" He jerked his head. "Aptcom, get rid of this guy." The computer did not respond verbally, but the tractor emitter swiveled and fired the vessel in its clutches to one side as if by a slingshot. The tumbling ship barely regained control, only to smash into the ground moments later.

Ally cheered., just as her dorsal shielding suffered another hit. Warning alarms were going off in the cockpit as the emitters, overtaxed and overstressed, threatened to give way.

"Advise immediate shield rotation," cautioned her APTCOM. She shook her head.

"Negative, Aptcom. Ground forces would get us. Transition to deflector shields on my mark- mark!"

For one, hair raising moment, the entire shield grid around her fighter destabilized, white blurs crisscrossing the hull as the emitters powered down. Then, with a flash, a protective bubble spread from the deflector shield emitters, before fading into a clear field. The next blow was absorbed harmlessly, only a rapidly fading flash of colors even indicating the hit.

"Transition complete," announced APTCOM. "Deflector shields are at full strength."

* * *

The story was almost the same for Tally Shorehm, except her entrance into the fight was not welcomed with open arms. Even as she sent three fighters plummeting earthwards in smoking wrecks to land among- but not harming- Coalition forces, a squadron of Evenar interceptors bore down upon her. With her APTCOM struggling to hit these new, far more agile targets, her aft shields were taking a severe beating.

"Shield rotation to aft dorsal shielding!" she ordered. "Aptcom, keep up a steady fire- use a spread of mines of you have to!"

"Results minimal," reported the computer, moments later. "Enemy interceptors have reinforced forward shields. Advise a transition to-"

At that moment, an energy torpedo standard to Evenar interceptors pierced her shields, breaking through the weakened energy barriers and slamming into her aft shield modulator. The projectile hovered for an single second, held at bay by the Arwing's integrity field. Moments later, the field broke apart, allowing the torpedo to strike the aft shield modulator. There was a violent explosion.

The effects were instantaneous. The aft shield grid destabilized, scrambled with the lack of a modulator. Automatically, the ventral and dorsal shield grids attempted to take up the slack, but both, already strained maintaining one shield grid went offline in a shower of sparks, processors overloaded.

The APTCOM wisely kept the forward shield modulator from beginning automatic compensation, allowing Tally to keep at least frontal shields online.

"Rerouting all power into forward shields," announced the computer. Tally, more concerned with the swarm of enemies behind her gave only a nod in acknowledgement. "Forward shields are at fifty three percent."

"Roger that," Tally answered. Her headset crackled to life as Daniel noticed her dangerous predicament- his response was predictable.

"Tally, pull out and withdraw to the Great Fox. Maybury's about to end reentry procedures."

"Negative, Daniel," she responded, noting absently that her APTCOM had nailed several interceptors behind her with a blind shot from with a mine. "I see bombers ahead. I'll get these guys off my tail. Keep and eye on yourself!"

In his cockpit, Daniel grimaced, pulling his Arwing into the first half of a loop. With a twist of his controls, his Arwing leveled out, boosters and afterburners igniting as he rocketed towards the imperiled hound. "Don't play the hero," he snapped. "Your integrity field wasn't designed to take enemy fire."

Surprisingly, it was Ally who came to Tally's defense- the technician tended to keep her opinions on flying to herself. "Daniel, she still has deflectors and the integrity field is still up. After that, they'll have to shoot through four layers of armor. She'll be fine for a bit longer."

"Too big a risk. One hit to the polarization node, and her defenses are shot."

"Ablative armor works independent of the hull polarization."

"Won't last. Neither will the reflective armor."

"It'll hold. Calm down." There was no more talk after this- Daniel had reached the interceptors, still gamely following the twisting Arwing as Tally threw her craft into evasive maneuvers that would have ripped even an Arwing IV to pieces.

"Aptcom, I need missiles!" barked Daniel. On both sides of his Arwing, compartments built into the main hull sprang open and a rack of missiles slid into firing position. "Load them with EMP charges. Fire!"

As he spat the last command, the first two missiles blasted out of his launchers. Both selected a target and locked on, streaking a beeline directly towards their destinations. Two of the Evenar broke formation immediately, twisting into the sky and launching strings of glowing chaff in an effort to shake off their pursuers.

While Daniel's missiles flew from his launchers to wreak pandemonium amongst the interceptors, Vanessa approached Tally from the opposite direction, head on to the canine's advance. She reached up to activate a switch above her, dropping a pane of computer glass in front of her. A targeting reticule flashed.

"Aptcom, arm the forward beam cannon and hold the plasma cannons on standby."

"Beam cannon ready for use. Mode designation required for plasma cannons."

"Orb!" There was a beep, but Vanessa ignored it. She was focusing intently on the nose of her craft, which was beginning to glow as radiant spokes of plasma were drawn in from the atmosphere, collecting to charge the capacitor to full.

The instant the gauge flashed full, both of the vixen's paws clenched, firing the massive weapon mounted in front of her. Immediately, a three foot thick beam of electrified plasma blasted from her Arwing's nose, magnetic constrictors flaring on all around it to stabilize the pulsating beam.

Only enough plasma for a five second burst had been collected, but it was enough. Distracted both by the fighter directly ahead and the missiles tailing many of them, the Evenar were wholly unprepared for this new, unexpected assault. Three were instantly vaporized, and two more were destroyed by a combination of debris and energy spillover.

"Streaming plasma cannons- arm them!" she called out, before bearing down on the trigger once more. Viridian orbs of plasma flared from her wing guns, sailing towards the milling interceptors.

Ordinarily, only the pulsed plasma cannons, firing streams of red bolts, were fast enough for aerial combat. Occasionally, the plasma disruptors could take a target, but their accuracy was low in such dogfights. Plasma orbs were the least accurate of all, made mainly for strafing runs on stationary targets for maximum damage. But with the Evenar still distracted, some of the orbs found their mark and burst upon raised shields, weakening many significantly and causing a good deal of the interceptors to break off, engines smoking.

Her third volley of plasma was from the four sets of streaming plasma cannons, mounted around the perimeter of her primary hull. With each array consisting of four cells, it was sixteen strands of azure plasma that she fired ahead of her at the remains of the formation.

Her fire was joined by Raymond Toad, his daring attack coming from a vertical vector- flying straight down from above the clouds, where he had destroyed several pursuers with bursts of laser fire. The lances of plasma disintegrated the remainder of the interceptors, which, caught between the crossfire, withered and blew apart in flashes of light and palls of smoke and debris.

* * *

The remnants of the Evenar force were gathering around three heavy cruisers, formidable ships armed heavily with the anti aircraft guns to take down fighters like Arwings no matter their skill. One scan revealed that they operated on the blanket principle- accuracy was subjugated below sheer coverage. Daniel initially frowned at the prospect of taking these ships, with their heavy fighter escorts down, but Ally made an apt observation that quite possibly saved the day.

"Daniel, use the PPS system. It should get us through their shields."

"Agreed," responded Daniel. "I'd almost forgotten about those. Raymond, you're with Gannet, Vanessa, you're with Ally. Tally and I'll handle the last one. Charge your emitters and go in at full speed! Go!"

For the next few minutes, the Arwings fired only laser rounds as their forward synthesizers took in the atmosphere and converted it to plasma, charging the capacitors along with the fuel reserves. As the particle cannons lashed around and the lasers tore into shielding, every drop of plasma was saved for what could be a spectacular finish to the battle in the air.

"Tally, with me!" ordered Daniel. "Activate your plasma screen on my mark. Mark!"

Emitters all over both Arwings came to life, their hulls polarizing as the nodes spilt charged plasma. Both fighters were soon completely coated in the bright, molten gold that shone with the brilliance of a star. Relying on sensor feeds, they aligned their ships towards their target cruiser and threw their engines to full power.

Laser and plasma guns flew at them, but the lasers were absorbed harmlessly and impacts of plasma rounds simply augmented the plasma screen coating both ships. As they drew ever nearer to the cruiser, the plasma surrounding both Arwings continued to heat up until it had attained a blinding brilliance.

Fighters scrambled out of the way as the twin comets blazed onwards towards the cruiser, which was trying to turn out of the way.

It was hopeless. The sheer speed of the fighters forced their plasma screens through the shield, penetrating the envelope easily. The superheated matter adhered tightly to Daniel's shields and Tally's integrity grid, attracted by their polarized hulls. The instant it touched the cruiser's hull, it seared a path through the armor.

Driven onwards at near supersonic speeds, both Arwings had pierced the cruiser through in a matter of seconds, leaving a bright trail of glowing plasma in twin yellow beams that speared the cruiser through. In moments, it began to explode, shaking violently, before its power core lost containment, annihilating the ship in a spectacular flash.

The other two cruisers followed instants later, their armor and interior hulls shorn away by the searing cutting edge that burnt right through them, damaging critical systems and ruining integrity braces. Even as the excess plasma fell away and the team paused firing to regenerate drained power supplies, the wreckage of the three cruisers intermingled as it fell to the ground in a hail of blazing metal.

* * *

The soldiers were cheering on the ground below- even as they watched the Arwings tearing apart the Evenar formations, they could see the silhouette of the Great Fox, descending through the clouds. The sky lit up like a fireworks display as the Great Fox's main guns opened up, sending blazing strands of plasma and a rain of laser bolts towards enemy lines.

Entire squadrons of fighters and bombers simply vanished under the onslaught, and the Arwings broke off as the Great Fox deployed two fearsome missiles from its flanks, both almost a quarter of the dreadnaught's length. With a fantastic roar, these behemoths snapped free of their restraints and blasted towards panicked Evenar lines.

Survivors and stragglers of the enemy air force flocked to the missiles, blasting at them with frenzied haste. Yet shield systems on both missiles protected them, and with the Arwings of Team Solaris swooping down on them almost every second, almost no progress could be made.

Vanessa's team of her, Ally, and Tally closely guarded the port missile, lasers flashing as they decimated weakened fighters that dared mount an assault on the missile. A gap, however was soon to open in their lines, much to Vanessa's dismay.

"Warning. Reflective armor integrity compromised," intoned Tally's APTCOM. "Hull plating is coming online. Polarization nodes optimal."

"Good!" yelled Tally, adrenaline coursing through her as ripples of blue electricity swept over her ship, polarizing the hull. "Let's do this!"

"Your optimism is not shared," replied APTCOM. "Hull plating is at eighty percent." Tally continued her dizzying maneuvers around the missile, but as a flight energy torpedoes flew by, three slammed into her hull at varying locations, sparking brightly and erupting into flame.

"Hull plating offline!" screamed the computer. "Ablative armor at ninety percent!" Tally's brow glistened slightly as she finally realized the severity of the situation.

"Ally, how tough is the ablative armor?"

"Not strong enough to withstand that kind of beating! Get out of there!" Even as Tally was about to reply, her ship rocked again, klaxons sounding as concussive damage began to wear down her systems.

"I'm pulling back! Somebody let Maybury know!" Tally pulled back on her controls, and with a flick of a switch, her boosters and afterburners came on, and with a surge of acceleration, her ship kicked its way upwards and vanished into the clouds in an instant, leaving only a trail of smoke behind.

Without a third flier, the starboard missile began to take a heavy beating. Scarcely did Vanessa and Ally have time to acknowledge Maybury's cry of "Get out of there!" when the missile blew apart, the explosion catching several unwary Evenar fighters and hurling them end over end in all directions.

Five fighters now covered the second missile, which had almost reached the ground. Close enough to plainly see the fleeing drakes of the Evenar legions, Daniel called for everyone to pull out of their descent, and a curtain of smoke masked the missile's final descent as plasma fires exploded into brilliance from each Arwing's engines.

A dome of fire blazed up from the impact site as the missile's matter and antimatter containment fields ruptured, releasing the explosives into the reaction chamber, full of live plasma. The resulting explosion seared the earth and blew chunks of soil into the air, carving out a shallow crater devoid of life almost a quarter mile in all directions, leaving a gaping hole in the Evenar lines.

With the remaining fighters either scattered, fleeing, or ditched on the ground in emergency crash landings, the Arwings and the Solaris V were almost unopposed. The final artillery battery trained its sights on the dreadnought, severely damaging the capital ship's frontal shields before a deft frequency shift by Maybury rendered these guns useless. A single flight of torpedoes from the Solaris V, and the battery was just so much more scrap metal and flame.

All that was left was the Evenar defensive base, the only thing now allowing them to repel the Coalition forces on the ground. Daniel ordered Maybury to use the Solaris V's superior firepower to rake the exposed Evenars on the ground- his remaining fire Arwings flew directly towards the base.

They maneuvered into position, just beyond the range of the small point defense guns that had survived the battle. The Evenar nevertheless tried, and the occasional laser found its way to glance harmlessly off the raised shields of the Arwings. Only when rocket launchers began to appear from below was Daniel concerned- even so, a simple shield rotation warded off the danger.

"Nova bombs," ordered Vanessa, knowing Daniel's plan. "One every fifteen seconds, use your reserves. Fire!"

Coalition forces could only watch in abject shock as five fighters commenced their bombardment on the formidable base that had turned their attacks constantly for almost three weeks. Despite their numbers, almost thirty thousand strong, they were unable to accomplish what five fighters were now doing.

The stream of nova bombs never seemed to end, mercilessly pummeling the shields around the Evenar position. The last bombs had not yet been fired when the shields collapsed. The remaining twenty three bombs found their way into power plants, armor integrity nodes, structural integrity field generators, and gun emplacements, sweeping them away and into oblivion.

By now, the base was a steaming wreck, but knowing soldiers still hid inside, Daniel pushed further. "Plasma disruptors. Don't use orbs, they'll cause you to lose position. Bombard until I say otherwise."

Glowing bolts of green plasma rained down, plasma bursting into pillars of flame and leaving blackened craters all over the base's surface. Much of the position was alight when streaming plasma cannons and beam cannons were activated, spraying the base with ever more plasma until it was threatened to be completely smothered in the substance.

At long last, however, it was time to force the Evenar's capitulation and drive them from the base. Bolt lasers were armed on the five Arwings as the Solaris V, having annihilated any remaining pockets of resistance, returned.

The heavy guns on the Solaris V were threat enough to the crippled base. But bolt lasers had more firepower than the Arwing V's particle cannons, plasma cannons, and laser cannons combined. As the diamond-headed golden bolts were spat from each fighter's nose at the rate of one every ten seconds, they began the complete demolition of the Evenar base.

The pounding that the Solaris V unleashed some thirty seconds later was purely gratuitous. When Daniel finally ordered the team to cease fire, drakes were streaming from every entrance to the base in droves as the base went to pieces, power conduits and ordinance erupting into flame around them. Coalition forces, maintaining a safe distance were waiting to accept their surrender. Amidst the fleeing masses flew comets of burning metal, spinning a web of black smoke across the sky like the forbearers of a holocaust. The main antimatter reactor of the base lost containment shortly afterwards, leaving exposed drakes with no option but surrender.

And surrender they did. In the thousands. Fully twelve thousand dragons were left alive at the end of the day, the others- almost another forty thousand of them- having been killed either over the length of the siege and in the climactic battle fought that day.

* * *

The Arwings returning to the Solaris V were wounded, but only in body, not in spirit. It was with near screams of delight that the population of the Coalition capital, Lygralia, received them later that day.

The name was a portmanteau of the name of the Coalition's founders- the Grallians, the Lylatians, and the Elorians. But, with extreme pride and joy, General Selina Pepper informed them that one more addition could be added to the list.

News of victory spread fast. The crushing defeat of the Evenar at Devali marked the beginning of the Coalition's strike into the Frontier Ring. From there, it would be onto Lylat, and after that, to reclaim Grall and Eloria from Evenar rule.

But in orbit around the capital planet, Rinaldi I had been a ship, waiting all this time for news. Its captain was a compassionate man, and had advocated immediate alliance with the coalition. But until now, his calls had been rebuked by respectful superiors on the grounds that their fleet and population was not ready for a war.

Now, though, the situation was clear. The course of action was clear. And it was thus that, to ensure maximum security and prosperity for those under the fleet's protection, Admiral Gardener of Starfleet announced that he had come to a momentous decision- Starfleet would throw in its lot with the Coalition.

The principal advocate of this alliance was in attendance the day the pact was sealed, and watched approvingly as paw shook hand. The humans of the Terran Remnant now had a home and a cause. And it was only hours later when, on the bridge of the new Enterprise, the NX-06, that, with a smile and a farewell from Admiral Gardener and General Pepper, he departed with a fleet of ten other ships.

Moments later, cruisers and battleships of the Coalition First Fleet, accompanied by Team Lunaris, Team Elengale, and the victorious Team Solaris followed, leaping to warp and holding station ahead of the Terran vessels.

The invasion had begun. And it had done so with a unification of forces against a common enemy. And it was with pride in the minds of all aboard that this would be done amidst an atmosphere of renewed cadamarie and equality towards one's shipmates, as all ships lay in their destination-

The world of tomorrow.


End file.
